Canker sores: Homemade mouthwash can ease pain

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have had repeated canker sores for many years. They're painful. Does anyone know what causes them? How do you prevent them? What mouth rinse would you suggest to heal them?

Paul G. donohue, M.D.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have had repeated canker sores for many years. They're painful. Does anyone know what causes them? How do you prevent them? What mouth rinse would you suggest to heal them?

— E.H.

No one has incontrovertible proof of the cause for canker sores. A popular theory says they are an autoimmune phenomenon. The body's immune system turns against the mouth lining, and the result is canker sores. Perhaps the mouth's bacteria provoke the immune attack.

Mouth trauma contributes to their formation. Don't eat anything that could injury the mouth lining — hard toast, pretzels, potato chips and nuts are some examples. Don't brush with a toothbrush that has hard bristles.

Medicines have been implicated as another contributory cause. Anti-inflammatory medicines like Aleve, Motrin and Advil might trigger an attack. Beta-blocker drugs, used for blood-pressure control and heartbeat regulation, also have been suggested as suspects. Examples are Inderal, Normodyne, Corgard, Lopressor and Tenormin.

You can make your own mouthwash to ease the pain and promote healing. Mix two parts water to one part hydrogen peroxide (or one part liquid Benadryl), and swish the solution in your mouth three times a day. Spit it out. Milk of magnesia makes a decent mouthwash, as does Kaopectate.

Prescription mouthwashes include things like Peridex and PerioGard.

Aphthasol paste, Lidex and Kenalog in Orabase are dabbed directly onto the canker sores and provide good pain relief.

Above all, make sure that what you have are truly canker sores. There are other recurrent mouth sores that look much like canker sores but are something quite different.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Where did the asbestos thing come from?

Growing up in the Midwest, we all had potbelly stoves with asbestos on the backside wall. We played with pieces of it as chalk and wrote with it on sidewalks. No one in my family or any neighbor's family ever came down with cancer. Please explain.

— J.

The asbestos thing came from years of investigation on the part of researchers who established a link between inhaled asbestos fibers and some cancers and a lung disease called asbestosis. Two cancers are caused by inhaled asbestos fibers. One is a special kind of lung cancer. The other is a cancer of the lungs' covering. It's called mesothelioma. Mesotheliomas can also spring up on the abdominal cavity's lining.

Asbestosis, the lung disease, is a crippling illness that makes the passage of oxygen from the lungs into the blood difficult to impossible.

The upshot of all the investigative work has led to a banning of asbestos in the building trades. It was a favorite insulation material and fire retardant.

Most of the people who suffer asbestos' consequences were exposed to high concentrations of it for long periods of time — asbestos miners and millers, boilermakers, pipe fitters, plumbers, electricians and carpenters.

Little danger exists for people with asbestos in their homes if the material is in good condition, not crumbling or cracking. It can be left alone. If it's deteriorating, a professional should be called to remove it. Playing with it as chalk is not a good idea.

Readers may write to Dr. Donohue or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com